Bad place to go all-in

[wet_behind_the_ears]

I was in a MTT with 180 people this weekend. $50 buy in/+rebuys & add-ons.

Didn't get any good starting hands at all. In the 3rd round (last round before add-on period), I flopped a boat and slowplayed it successfully enough to get a decent sized stack, but still about average for the table). That was the only pot i took down up to that point. After the add-on period, I had about $4,000 in tourney chips, and the blinds began escalating aggressively (I knew this was going to be the case and my strategy was to build a big stack early, but i really didn't get any cards at all that day). anyway, blinds are up to 300/600 and after getting blinded down (plus $75 antes!!) and raised out of a few pots after I had called a bet, I have about $2K in front of me and I'm on the button. One limper calls early, then the guy to my left raises to $600. I look down and find a pair of 9's in my hole. The blinds were tight, and I had a great read on the raiser, putting him on A8os or something close to that. I decide to push all in, blinds and limper fold, raiser calls and turns over AJos. Of course, he catches an A on the flop, and does his best Matias Anderson impression (really annoyed me, but I mananged to keep my mouth shut).

Was my all-in stupid? I figured since I had him on an A, if I had simply called his bet I would have folded on the flop with my 9's. But the blinds were wearing me down and I figured it was time to gamble, so i pushed. Stupid move?

any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[JARID]

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anyway, blinds are up to 300/600 and after getting blinded down (plus $75 antes!!) and raised out of a few pots after I had called a bet, I have about $2K in front of me and I'm on the button. One limper calls early, then the guy to my left raises to $600.

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BB is $600 and he raises to $600. I'm confused. Given the range of hands you put your guy on then I think its ok to push. Against an unknown I would give a little more credibility to the raise which makes it a tougher decision.

-Jarid

[wet_behind_the_ears]

Whoops. Sorry, meant to say raises $600 to $1200.

Thanks for your feedback Jarid.

[JARID]

[ QUOTE ]
Whoops. Sorry, meant to say raises $600 to $1200.


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Ok, let me get this straight. One limper and this guy min raises to $1,200? Is he abit of a yahoo? Or is he a tricky guy inviting a call with a big hand like AA-KK?
Well, based on your read it would seem he made weird moves like this before with Ax, so given your need for chips I think I push here, welcoming a coin-flip esque showdown.

-Jarid

[Sam T.]

With a short stack, high blinds and antes, I don't think you can be too choosy here. With a big stack I'll call, and play for set value, but to stay alive you need to double-up, so get your money in when you have a hand that can do that for you. This early in the tournament, I'm not going to worry about the min-raise=AA possibility. More often its min-raise="I like my hand, but not all that much".

In the same situation last night (short stack acting behind one limper, and min-raise), I pushed with TT and was shown AJo (limper) and 99 (raiser). Flop came A9x, and I was headed for the showers.

[wet_behind_the_ears]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ok, let me get this straight. One limper and this guy min raises to $1,200? Is he abit of a yahoo? Or is he a tricky guy inviting a call with a big hand like AA-KK?
Well, based on your read it would seem he made weird moves like this before with Ax, so given your need for chips I think I push here, welcoming a coin-flip esque showdown.



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Yes, the guy was an idiot, which is why i was so sure of my read. He had been raising all day with any Ace, and I figured it was time to roll the dice, so I did. Then I got to listen to him yell like a classless clown when the A hit on the flop. Having to endure that was worse than losing the actual hand itself. It ate at me the rest of the day.

Now that I think about it, I think I definitely played it right, just needed some reassurance, as my screename would suggest I am still very new to this. I've read 3 sklansky books, but when a situation such as this actually happens in real life, I find myself second guessing what I thought was a sound decision under the circumstances.

Thanks again for your post